Cross Examination
by Garasu
Summary: Asuka Sohryu doesn't like much about her co-worker, Shinji Ikari...but after a brief time spent in his entry plug, she meets someone that just might change that opinion.


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Disclaimer- Neon Genesis Evangelion is the sole property of GAINAX studios and it's creator, Hideaki Anno. I love to borrow this work for my strange whims. I am without monetary units to speak of, and make a horrible target. Use this information wisely.

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Cross Examination

Author: Garasu

"We're going to do WHAT?"

Shinji Ikari cringed as the last word of the sentence rose to a volume level that was most uncomfortable to his ears. He really didn't see a point to this "family" meeting, as Misato had called it, and judging from her attitude, neither did his roommate, the fiery Asuka Langley. Fortunately, the previously mentioned red head responsible for Shinji's newly acquired hearing problem instantly shut her mouth when their guardian shot her a cold stare.

"Exactly as I said, tomorrow afternoon after school you and Shinji will report directly to headquarters. Once there you will both suit up for a cross-synchronization test," Misato explained patiently, once Asuka's curses had subsided. 

"Cross synchronization?" Shinji asked hesitantly. He remembered quite well that the last time he was ordered to perform a cross synch test with Unit Zero, the headache he developed after the incident had lasted for several days even after he had been given a clean bill of health from the medical staff. This time, apparently, it was going to be with Unit Two.

"Mmhmm," his mauve-haired guardian nodded towards her young male charge. "Apparently, Ritsuko was very interested in the results that both you and Asuka created during your fight with the Sixth Angel and she would like to develop it further by testing both of you in each other's respective Evas." 

"There is no way that little pervert is setting one foot inside my Unit Two," Asuka yelled into the following silence suddenly, pointing an accusing finger at Shinji. "Who knows what kind of thoughts will go through his head and maybe even carry over to my perfect machine!" Asuka shivered dramatically before continuing. "Besides, I can only imagine what goes on in his **own** plug, and now they want **me** to go in there?"

"Now, Asuka," Misato smiled cheerfully, trying desperately to ease the temperamental redhead's mood. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about in that respect. Ritsuko just wants to check and see if we might be able to use either of you in another Eva just in case. We already know that Shinji and Rei are compatible, and while Ritsu was saying something about it not being possible with Unit Two because of the base wavelength patterns or something like that, your little stunt with the sixth angel piqued her curiosity."

Asuka rolled her eyes and pouted for a moment before speaking up yet again. "Great, I knew I shouldn't have let that spineless wimp into my cockpit. **Now** look where it's gotten me!" With a final huff, Asuka slammed her palms flat on the table and got up in one fluid motion. "If either one of you needs me I'll be taking a bath, I'm already feeling dirty and we haven't even gotten to the test part yet."

Shinji quietly watched Asuka disappear down the hallway leading to her room before letting go of the breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding. Once the red head was out of his sight, he turned towards his guardian only to find her staring in the same general direction he had been looking several seconds earlier, a general look of concern set upon her face.

"Misato?" He asked quietly, unsure if he should disturb the major's thoughts or not.

"Hmmm?" A flurry of mauve hair brought Misato's brown eyes directly into Shinji's line of sight and a bright smile appeared moments later. "Oh don't worry, Shinji. She may talk tough, but she'll obey orders when they're given. I'd just stay away from her for the next day or so." Her grin widened suddenly. "Don't worry about a thing, I bet you will do just fine."

"Umm, thanks," Shinji responded, not really quite sure if Misato had fully comforted him or not. It wasn't really as if he was worried about the results of the test or anything. He had undergone many tests since he had arrived at Nerv almost a half a year ago. It was just a part of the process, really. If a pilot wasn't fighting an angel or going to school, they were performing the endless variety of synchronization, training, whatever else the science department could come up with. That usually didn't cover, however, the inclusion of other pilots in one another's Evas. As far as Shinji was concerned in that respect, he feared for his life for one and only one reason: Asuka.

With a final affectionate ruffle of the hair, Misato stood and sauntered off in the direction of her own room, leaving Shinji alone with his thoughts.

_I wonder if Asuka's cockpit will smell like her? _The brown-haired boy wondered as he rose as quietly as possible and walked in the direction of his room. Almost against his will, Shinji stopped by the bathroom door and listened intently to the quiet splashing sounding from within. After almost of full minute of listening intently, Shinji's head dropped back towards the ground and he silently entered his room, trying to quell the general sense of unease that he had about tomorrow's experiment. Somehow, though, he knew it was going to be a very long day tomorrow.

"Ah, Shinji, there you are," Shinji looked up to see Dr. Akagi walking towards him. He never quite knew why, but whenever the blonde scientist wore a smile like the one she was currently approaching him with he felt an involuntary shudder echo down his spine.

"Y-yes, Doctor?" The young man asked politely, trying his best to conceal the movement of his spine. It wasn't like Dr. Akagi was a mean person, or at least she never treated him badly once she had had several cups of coffee. It was just that every time Shinji suffered through one of her various experiments he felt like she already knew what would happen and was simply matching her foreknowledge with hard fact. That feeling became even more distinct when he was subjected to tests outside the normal range of synchronization and harmonics tests. They were all feelings that, considering the tests he was about to be subjected to, made for a very uncomfortable time in the doctor's presence.

"I'm glad to see you are on time," Dr. Akagi let her smile spread a bit further, one that, to Shinji, seemed genuine enough. "Now, if only I could convince Asuka to be as punctual as you and Rei. Have you seen her?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shinji answered obediently. "I think she was just behind me."

In verification to Shinji's response, not a moment more passed before the red head sauntered into the briefing room.

"Alright, I'm here," Asuka announced irritably, wanting desperately to get this bank of tests over with as soon as possible. She had a date with a shower, after all. "Let's get this over with so I can go ahead and wash the idiot germs off of me as soon as we're done."

Ritsuko sighed quietly at the pilot's general attitude, but dismissed it soon enough. "Very well then." Without much more introduction, Dr. Akagi launched into an explanation of the day's tests. "The purpose of this bank of tests is to determine cross activation harmonics in case of an emergency. It should be no different than what you're normally used to, despite the difference in Unit One versus Two's base wave patterns. I would also like you to try and concentrate on whatever you two did during the battle with the sixth angel, as that seemed to bring about a spike in results. Are there any questions?"

Ritsuko glanced back and forth between the two pilots, receiving a shake of the head from Shinji, and a roll of the eyes from Asuka. "All right, good enough I suppose. Make your way to the entry plugs, please, and we can begin."

The two pilots exited the room quietly enough but as soon as the two children were in the elevator cage that would bring them to the level of the entry plugs, Asuka turned around gruffly and faced Shinji. With a frown making her otherwise pretty features overly firm, the young pilot approached her teammate, sending Shinji nervously back against the wall.

"Alright, listen up Third. We need to settle a few ground rules before we begin." Asuka began with the air of someone whom was just about to undergo much suffering, she then held out her balled fist, and ticked off two points on her fingers as she said them. "First, no touching. I don't want you putting your grubby hands on anything in that cockpit. It's already bad enough that you have to sit in the same seat as I do, but I really can't have you standing up, as much as I'd like to make you."

The German pilot sighed loudly and moved her hands to her hips. "Second, no dirty thoughts. I don't want to come back to my Unit Two and find that nothing works properly because you infected it with something. Do you understand?"

Shinji nodded his head numbly, not entirely sure of everything that Asuka has just told him, or why she said it. However, in times like these he found it easier to just agree with whatever the temperamental girl said. It made his life infinitely less complicated in the long run.

Asuka smiled, confident that her point had been made. By the time she had turned around again, the elevator came to a rest and the door opened wide. Even having been with Nerv for almost six months, Shinji still never failed to be suitably impressed with the Evangelions, nor with the view that one was offered after first stepping off the cage elevator. The latter had always made an impressive sight, and definitely served well to place things in perspective for the uninitiated.

For the experiment that they would be conducting today, both Units One and Two had been moved beside each other and rested upon giant trailers that would transport the two to their respective testing rooms. From the position on the catwalk, which was on the level of the two giant heads, it was nearly a twenty-story drop to the platform the two huge mecha's feet rested upon, and an even further drop of four stories to the real ground level from the top of the carrier platforms. Anything that was required to carry an Evangelion was another monstrosity in and of itself. 

"Helloooo," Shinji's thoughts were interrupted abruptly by a creamy white hand in front of his face. "For today, your Eva is that way, idiot."

"Hmm?" Shinji stared at his companion for a second with a confused expression in his face. He honestly didn't know what she was referring to until he realized that in his ruminations he had walked across the gangplank that led to his own Unit. As quickly as possible, the young man corrected himself and scooted to the next plank over. "Sorry."

"Idiot," was Asuka's only reply as the red head disappeared into the white plug and shut the hatch firmly. 

Moments later Shinji had done the same thing and felt the familiar jarring sensation of the crane lifting the plug into position along the spinal column of Eva Unit Two. The young man didn't even have time to allow his trepidation of entering Unit Two for the first time since the sixth angel to show through as the plug gears caught and twisted violently, sending the white capsule down into the body. As soon as he was connected, the idle chatter from the bridge crew filtered in on the audio channels and he could hear them going through the very complex and numerous steps that were required to start up and synchronize.

"Plugs caught and secured, personal data has been changed accordingly. The MAGI are reporting no data corruption," reported Maya Ibuki in her quiet and brisk fashion.

"Pilots connected, audio networks connected, visual cameras coming on line now," followed a male voice, one Shinji had not learned to identify by sound alone yet. It was either Makoto or Shigeru.

"Filling plugs with LCL, moving Evas to test station, external power source connected and running with nominal gain," Once again Maya's voice filled Shinji's ears in the echoing environment of the empty plug. True to the science technician's words as well, the orange-red liquid known as LCL began to run smoothly up from the bottom of the plug, dampening the rough vibration that was coming from the huge moving platforms. In a matter of seconds the entire capsule was filled and Shinji was breathing the liquid with a slightly sick expression. In all this time, he still hadn't gotten used to the smell.

_It still smells too much like blood,_ he thought, before trying to figure out what the additional scent that seemed to permeate the plug was as well. Strangely, it reminded him of Misato for some reason.

As if the mere thought of his guardian summoned her presence, an audio link opened and the young pilot recognized the voice of Major Katsuragi over the channel.

"How are you doing, Shinji?" His guardian asked brightly, regarding his faint wrinkled nose with amusement. "Hold tight, as soon as the Evas are connected to the test banks we'll get you two up and running."

"Hmmph, this better not take too long," the unmistakable voice of Asuka joined into the conversation. Shinji had to blink a couple of times to remind himself why the feed from Asuka read "From Unit One" instead of "Two."

"Don't worry, Asuka, we're about ready to begin now," Dr. Akagi's voice flowed smoothly over the audio link. "Evas are in position, begin recording and initiate first phase power up sequence."

"Finally," muttered Asuka moments before her audio link cut as electric power was diverted to the main startup sequence. Under his buttocks, Shinji could feel the giant red Eva begin to stir as more and more components came online.

As the Evas began shifting into phase two and beyond, the colorful connection sequence played before Shinji's eyes, disorienting his senses just before a slight prickling sensation entered his brain. The synchronization sequence was always a bit disorienting for someone who was not used to their mind suddenly becoming aware that it was controlling a body more than two hundred times it normal size. For Shinji, who was still relatively new to Evangelions, the slight feeling of vertigo still made him sick to his stomach for just a few moments.

Suddenly, the audio links kicked in again followed immediately by the two way video system. The last two components coinciding with synchronization, which powered the view screen resting against the plugs inner walls. Within a matter of moments the entire surface in front of Shinji was filled with the never ending white background of the test cages, along with a small black distance scale that was permanently scripted into the visual feed.

"…-line cleared, synchronization ratios approximately twenty percent lower than average values," Maya's voice cut in, once the audio link was restored. With full connection also came the realization that he had passed the all important border-line and synchronized with Asuka's Eva, no headaches or accidents so far! Though one look at Ritsuko's face and the fascinated aura she was emanating sent Shinji's pleasant mood to a grinding halt. It looked as if they were going to be in store for a few hours more of this.

"Hey there, Shinji, how does it feel to be piloting Unit Two?" Misato's effervescent voice echoed into the plug's audio speakers. Shinji amusedly noticed that Misato had interrupted something that Dr. Akagi was going to say, and the doctor was making an annoyed face to the unknowing Major's back. It never really surprised anyone, though, that outside of stressful situations Misato was more than just a little child like.

"I'm feeling okay, I guess," Shinji answered and gave his guardian a weak smile. In her good mood, it was just enough to let the woman know that nothing was way too out of the ordinary, though the young pilot could also swear he heard something being muttered from the "Unit One" feed.

"Hmm, yes, but your ratios could be higher," Ritsuko put in, shoving Misato aside for the moment. "Shinji, Asuka, I want you two to close your eyes now and try and focus on that specific thought that allowed you to synchronize with Unit Two as well as you did. Granted, I believe some of that was stress related, but I think we should be able to get a reasonable approximation."

Shinji sighed and let his eyes close obediently. It looked like he was correct in thinking that they were going to be there for quite some time. Idly, he caught a few muffled grumbles from Asuka and smiled. At least their enjoyment or lack thereof, was the same. With as little effort as possible, the young man melded his form to the seat and with the ease of much practice sent his mind forth in search of better synchronization ratios.

While the beginning of the tests always gave Shinji a slight sense of vertigo, no doubt due to his inexperience, his partner, Asuka, never had any problems with synchronization. She had, after all, been doing it for almost six years of her life

"I can't believe that idiot," Asuka mumbled as she slammed the hatch of Unit One's plug shut and settled into the pilot's seat. "Dummy would probably walk himself off the platform if there wasn't a guard rail to stop him."

For Asuka, who had been in or around evangelions for most of her short life, the start up process was nothing new. Not even the fact that she was in an entirely different Eva managed to shake her mind as the process began. When the audio links cut off suddenly because of the power transfer, the young red head slid lower in the cockpit's chair, trying to find some point that was at the same time comfortable and putting her body in as little physical contact with the chair as possible. According to her common sense, it just wasn't right that they should trade units like they were doing, as the only way she would ever give up piloting her Unit was when they dragged her cold dead body out of the plug. As far as Asuka was concerned, that would be a cold day in hell. Yet, still, here they were, under orders and trading of evangelions as if they were cars. All for the thinly veiled excuse of "just in case." Though it did cause her to wonder, albeit briefly why the commander approved this test in the first place.

Not surprisingly, the audio and visual links cut back in as soon as synchronization was achieved. Not long after the connection test pattern finished the plug was filled with the boring white exterior of the test cage. Asuka would have been more surprised if the white room hadn't appeared. Apparently, though, Ritsuko and Misato were pleasantly surprised enough, as Misato cheerfully hailed Shinji as soon as the links were restored, interrupting the doctor before she was about to speak.

"Hmmph, weak little boy," Asuka muttered under her breath at the quiet response from her roommate. Still, she had to begin wondering if it was the Eva or her own mind that was creating the strange sensation in her head that began as soon as synchronization was reached then steadily grew to a dull ache as the synch counter displayed the minutes one by one. It felt, decidedly different from her Unit Two. There, Asuka always felt confident and in charge, here, in Unit One however, the odd pressure that began in the back of her head made the girl shift uncomfortably.

"Shinji, Asuka, I want you two to close your eyes and try and focus on that specific thought that allowed you to synchronize with Unit Two as well as you did. Granted, I believe some of that was stress related, but I think we should be able to get a reasonable approximation."

Asuka blinked quickly in surprise. She had been concentrating so hard on the increasing pressure that was beginning to spread that she had nearly failed to hear Dr. Akagi speak. As it was she had just barely caught the last part of the conversation, something about concentrating harder.

_How in the world am I supposed to concentrate with this damn headache bugging me? _Asuka thought nastily as she closed her eyes and tried to focus her thoughts more on synchronizing. What the red head received for her efforts was more pain.

"Asuka? Are you alright?" The young woman managed to comprehend the question from Misato as the ache migrated into a dull throbbing sensation. Now it felt like someone was trying to break into her mind…only using a very large mallet.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I've just got a bit of a headache," Asuka replied, not even bothering to open her eyes, feeling that is she did she would faint from the dizziness.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why won't you just go away! _

The thought came unbidden to Asuka's mind, referring to the infernal headache and more recent vague feeling that something or someone was trying to read her mind. _Stupid Eva, I must be getting sick or something._

Strangely, the pain spiked when Asuka called the Eva stupid, and she involuntarily let out a tiny whimper, one that she hoped that no one could hear.

"Asuka? You don't look to good, are you sure you're alright?" Asuka frowned when the voice of her coworker came over the audio link. He sounded as if he was really worried about her, though the German immediately blew it off. She didn't need his pity at all.

"I'm fine, idiot, just shut…" Asuka stopped as a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her senses. She became vaguely aware of voices yelling over the radio, and she thought that they may have been talking to her, but she couldn't quite be sure. "…just shut up." Her last words became a jumbled mass of confusion, as if she were saying them through an alcohol drugged mind. Fortunately, her pain didn't last much longer as a black blanket of sleep enveloped her.

"Asuka? Asuka, wake up! Can you hear me?" The young pilot woke slowly to the incredibly annoying sensation of someone shaking her roughly and the cold feeling of metal on her back. 

"What? What happened?" She managed to mouth in a weak voice, opening her eyes even further. As her visual sense re-oriented themselves, she noticed that she was lying on the gangplank leading to Unit One and still dressed in her plug suit.

"You fainted," came the reply from a bit above where Misato was standing. Asuka turned her head slightly to regard Dr. Akagi standing with her clipboard and with an unreadable expression set on her face. "All indications say that you were just overstressed, probably from lack of sleep or food lately. We can, of course, take you to the medical rooms and have you checked out."

Asuka shook her head weakly. "No, I just want to go home and go to bed. I feel tired." Another shake of the girl's head brought Shinji into her eyesight, standing with a worried expression on his face, and, like her, still wearing his plug suit. "What are you looking at? It was probably something you cooked last night in the first place." She muttered to the boy, sounding close enough to her normal self to reassure the group around her. Gingerly, she was helped to her feet by Misato before she shrugged the woman's hands off and walked away under her own power.

"A good shower to wash the idiot germs off of me, and I'll be right as rain," she announced as a parting shot, then disappeared down the hallway, towards the locker rooms.

Misato, Shinji and Ritsuko watched her walk off, all shaking their heads slightly. "Well, I guess we'll finish this in another day or two," Dr. Akagi sighed, before walking off herself, muttering about timetables that needed to be completed.

Misato regarded Shinji for a second then pushed him in the direction of his own locker room. "Come on, Shinji. Get dressed then we can all go home. I'll even cook something extra special tonight for my turn."

Shinji merely shivered, and wondered if he could possible get out of eating tonight. 

_Who are you?_

"Excuse me?"

_Who are you, why are you here?_

"I don't understand. Where are you?"

Silence answered Asuka, darkness surrounded her. Though the German regarded herself as a strong woman and she liked to think that she was unafraid of anything, but here in her subconscious she couldn't hide from the fact that she was terribly alone. That singular thought sent tiny rivulets of fear up and down her spine. As more of her senses oriented themselves the young woman suddenly wasn't even sure that she was standing on solid ground, though her non visual senses told her that she was at least right side up. Strangely enough, she also soon discovered that she could also see herself quite plainly, despite the lack of any apparent light source. After a quick look down at her pale skin to confirm that everything was present and accounted for she couldn't help but blush at her lack of dress. All thoughts of nudity, however, were soon put aside, when a distinctly feminine giggle reached her ears. 

"Hello? Where are you?" Asuka called to the voice she had heard earlier, looking around in the blackness that surrounded her, growing more fearful by the moment. Frantically she tried to remember the last thing she had been doing, yet was not comforted much by her memory of actually going to sleep. What if this was some hallucination and she was walking herself all over the Katsuragi residence…or worse, what if she wandered outside?

"It was a simple question, don't you think?" When the voice came again Asuka's ears could give a direction, a direction that seemed way too close to her back for comfort. Turning quickly, her eyes suddenly met a ghostly white shape of a female. No other characteristics were distinguishable to the red-head's eyes but the vague impression that the woman was wearing some kind of form fitting suit, sort of like a wetsuit.

"Where did you come from?" Asuka spat, letting her fear of the person in front of her drive her temper to the fore front of her being, as well as allow her 'legs' to propel her backwards several meters.

"I really don't think that's important right now," was all that the woman said, but with a small smile on her lips to take away any hostile meaning the words could have had.

"Why should I answer any of your questions, then?" Was Asuka's next question, which seemed perfectly logical by her reasoning. Why should she have to answer to something that probably was an element drawn by her imagination as a direct result of something that Misato had cooked for dinner? Strange things always seemed to follow one of Misato's 'home made' meals and Asuka wouldn't have been surprised in the least if it had caused something like a simple hallucination.

"Yes, she does seem to have strange house keeping habits, doesn't she?" The woman asked, her smile growing wider. "But she does take good care of him, ne?"

"I don't understand, takes care of whom? How did you know what I was thinking?" Asuka was growing more confused by the moment; this woman wasn't making much sense as far as her questions went, nor were they very detailed to her fogged mind.

"I'm pretty sure you know whom I mean, young one. But those details are not important. What I wish to know right now is who you are, and why you are here," the woman with whom she was speaking seemed to carry an impossible amount of patience for one her age, the German noted.

"Well, if you mean my name, I am Asuka Langley Sohryu, pilot of Evangelion Unit Two. I'm here because my poor excuse for a guardian probably didn't cook something long enough and I'm hallucinating."

"Sohryu? Indeed." Strangely, Asuka noted that the woman's features tightened a bit and her smile grew less happy.

"Is there something wrong with my name?" Asuka bristled, this strange woman was now becoming more annoyed with each passing response, a fact that the young woman didn't like at all.

"No, no," the woman before Asuka shook her head, a sad smile now spread across her face. "I just knew a Sohryu once, I think."

Asuka froze with her heart caught in her throat. This woman knew a Sohryu? How could she possibly be familiar with the name? As if a connection had been suddenly found, Asuka began doubting at that moment that this image was merely a figment of her imagination, which terrified the girl even more. If this woman wasn't some conjured image from some undercooked food, then that meant that she was in her head somehow, and could read her thoughts. More than her fear of loneliness was Asuka's fear of letting someone into her thoughts, and here this complete stranger just shown up and began reading her as if it was nothing!

The ghostly female took notice of her young companion's stark fear and change in posture and smiled brightly, trying to dispel any doubts as to her motives.

"Don't worry, Miss Sohryu, I'm not here to read your mind," she assured the red head in a soft, melodious voice. "I merely wished to determine your name and why you appeared before me." The woman's voice grew even softer, and her eyes looked as if they were focusing on something just beyond her sight. "I was expecting someone else, you see."

"Expecting someone else? I appeared before you? But this is the first time I've seen you, and I certainly didn't call you. I don't understand." Asuka repeated quietly, in her confusion and fear utterly dropping the mask that she wore, her posture and bearing more similar to Shinji's now than her own. 

"Don't worry, Asuka. I think you will soon, if not…I have a good feeling I will see you again in a short amount of time. We can talk some more then, I'll even promise not to be so painful next time." The shape of the woman began to disappear before Asuka's eyes. It distracted her so much, that Asuka didn't even think over what the woman had said until it was too late.

"Painful? Wait, you can't mean that," the red head called into the darkness, the silence her only answer.

"WAIT!" Asuka shot up in her bead, clutching her covers tightly. Slowly a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead and followed the curve of her nose and cheek until it touched her soft pink lips. Distractedly, the German wetted her lips with her tongue, tasting the salt of her sweat as her eyes grew once again accustomed to the semi-darkness of her room.

Once she felt her pulse was under better control, Asuka collapsed backwards onto her pillow and let out a huge breath to dispel the last vestiges of her nightmare from her mind.

"Two-thirty in the morning," Asuka whispered to herself after a quick glance towards the digital timepiece near her bed. Too wide-awake at the moment to go back to bed, Asuka nimbly folded her hands under her head and regarded the ceiling. "Was it really just a nightmare?"

As always, the ceiling did not answer her question, and she continued to regard it until her eyes slowly closed once again, too heavy for their own good. Fortunately, Asuka's second slumber was much more peaceful than her initial one.

"Come on, Asuka! Wake up, we're going to be late for school!" Shinji grumbled at the lack of noise coming from the closed door in front of him. It seemed that he almost never beat Asuka out of bed, simply because the German always felt that she had to make sure everything looked absolutely perfect before stepping out the front door. Those rare times, like this one, when he woke up before her though, the pair was almost always late. Mainly because his roommate **still** had to do her morning grooming.

After a few moments, Shinji finally caught the first signs that someone was awakening slowly and reluctantly when a rather indecent sounding groan floated through the door's wood. Another moment latter, Shinji got his first words of the day, something that he would have rather avoided.

"Idiot, quite pounding on the door, I'm up already!" Shinji cringed once Asuka finished cursing him in several creative languages, and then sighed tolerantly. Late or not, Asuka was never in much of a good mood in the morning. Sometimes he just wished that he could have a nice quiet morning. Was it really too much to ask for?

"Quit dawdling by my bedroom, pervert, and make sure that everything's ready for school, otherwise we'll be late!" Asuka's opinion blatantly interrupted the young man's thoughts, and despite himself, Shinji sighed again. As long as **she** was around, there would be no such thing as blissful quiet.

Feeling particularly grousy this morning, however, Shinji couldn't help a departing shot towards his roommate, and pointed out that they would have to worry about being late if she had gotten up on time.

The young man left when only deadly silence answered his barb.

The walk to school wasn't particularly interesting as far as walks went, especially when Asuka did not present herself with a talkative exterior. Shinji was amused, though, at how the German could keep a small crowd in check with just a look. The whole journey, most people gave him and his companion a very wide berth on the sidewalk, and even threw him a few apologetic glances, as if somehow understanding what he was going through.

_As if anyone could possibly understand what it is like to live with those two women_ Shinji thought to himself darkly. One an embarrassing mix between mother and older sister, and the other was…was… well, he didn't quite know how Asuka fit into the scheme of things yet. Ever since she had come, his life had been an alternating lesson in respect for her courage and strength to learning several reasons why males should never **ever** live with the opposite sex. 

Still, for what it was worth, Shinji did eventually come to care for his strange roommate, despite her unpredictable nature. He always tried as hard as he could to make sure things went her way as many times as possible, not simply because that's the way she wanted it, but because he knew it made her happy. So, like today, when Asuka woke up with dark circles under her eyes, and generally acted and looked as if she had had a troubling sleep, Shinji worried. The young man knew that something, deep within Asuka bothered her, especially concerning her mother. He knew as well, that he would never hear it directly from her face. But it still didn't stop him from at least wondering what could have caused his roommate's grumpy nature. Unlike most people, he knew better than to just assign Asuka 'bitch' status. The German was much more complex than that.

"Stop staring at me."

Shinji blinked and stopped his pace. How had she known that he was watching her surreptitiously?

"Because, idiot, you always get this weird look whenever you're staring at me. Geeze, as if I don't feel dirty enough from living with you I get to deal with your perverted looks as well. The least you could do is keep them to yourself." Asuka muttered from around her shoulder, not once stopping to look at him.

_Oh…okay. _Shinji resumed his pace for a moment, not thinking about the fact that his companion had not once turned around or slowed her pace. Once that thought hit his brain, however, Shinji stopped yet again and blinked several times more. _So then how did she answer my question? I **know** I didn't say it out loud, or did I? _ The young man contemplated the back of his rapidly walking roommate for a moment before running to catch up once again. _Asuka's just too damn scary sometimes. Now she can read my mind?_

By that time, fortunately, the two pilots had finally reached the edge of the school grounds and managed to make it to their seats just barely in time for the bell. In light of that, Shinji spared no more thought processes on the matter. Instead, the Eva pilot chose to settle as low in his seat as possible and catch up on some missing sleep during the first hour lecture on Second Impact. The teacher, it seemed, always started the morning out with a story of his childhood and the way the impact had changed his life and by association the world during the last fifteen years. Annoyingly a dream that he had last night had been trying to add to his confusion the entire morning, which led to him being very tired. For the life of Shinji, though, he couldn't remember what it had been about; only that he had woken up in a sweat and didn't get much sleep after that point.

Meanwhile, Asuka was using the lecture time to contemplate some thoughts of her own. Unlike Shinji, she fully remembered every detail about her dream and was instead stuck on trying to convince herself that it was just that: a dream.

One though continued to plague the German red head, however, and that was the woman that she had dreamt about. It was no one that she knew from any point in her life, of that Asuka was sure about, at least. So why was her subconscious supplying the image of her for that voice, and why was the image so vague? Not to mention the fact that the woman also seemed to have her own will inside Asuka's mind, as if she wasn't a part of it, just…visiting for the lack of a better term. That thought gave Asuka a cold feeling that dove deep into her soul. No one was allowed into her mind, period, and especially not as easily as that woman had supposedly done. If she was indeed real, then how could she have gotten in so easily? Who was she, and what, if it was as Asuka suspected, did she have to do with Unit One?

Asuka sighed, and spared a quick glance towards the pilot of the Unit she was currently thinking about. Shinji was sitting low in his seat, with his arms crossed over his chest and his chin resting in a somewhat haphazard position. It was obvious the young man was sleeping, or at the very least completely zoning out. At first, a shiver of annoyance shot through her body, angry, for some reason, that Shinji was sleeping and she was not. He was such a do goody all the time that she had never seen him just start napping in the middle of class, even during the boring pseudo-lecture that was the precursor to the actual learning.

Briefly, a thought flittered through Asuka's mind concerning what could have made perfect little Shinji Ikari slack off, or more importantly if the boy knew anything about the strange woman she dreamt about, but she shot it down with the ruthless efficiency of a duck hunter during prime season. Anything that concerned Shinji was none of her business.

The young woman huffed and blew a stray strand of auburn hair out of her eyes, but not before stealing a glance once again at the napping pilot.

__

Iidiot. She thought viciously, trying to salvage some contempt for the brown-haired pilot. It wasn't really difficult. _I'll bet he's dreaming away, not a care in the world, not a single thought going through his empty, perverted head. I doubt he would even realize if something was going wrong in his Eva. I bet I felt it because I'm just naturally sensitive to things like that._

Asuka blinked as that last possibility entered her head. Of course! It made perfect sense once she really thought about it. She was, after all, the best and most talented pilot that Nerv had on staff. She would naturally be more sensitive to things like crossing over into Evas that were not her own. 

With a small smile directed towards her genius and for the simple excuse that made her dream a little less scary, Asuka settled in and began typing on the school-supplied computer. She really didn't have anything specific she wanted to write, but at least it made it look like she was doing something while the teacher droned on about his early years. They had another hour to go before he would actually start teaching something, so occupation of the mind was the key. Steadily, the sound of fingers flying across the keyboard rose from Asuka's position in the class room and remained steady for the next hour.

"What's with the devil lady, Shinji? I caught her looking at you several times this morning."

Shinji blinked and stared at his lunch mate, and general friend, Touji Suzahara, in what could only be described as utter confusion. Always good with words in these kinds of situations, Shinji uttered the first thing that came to his mind.

"Huh?" 

"The red devil…your roommate, she was looking at you almost the entire morning." Touji repeated. "Not that you noticed, sacked out as you were, heh heh. Welcome to the slacker life." The jock spared Shinji a wide grin, and then bent towards his friend. Their other 'stooge' friend, Kensuke Aida, followed Touji in closer as well to hear their erstwhile companion's answer.

Shinji took that moment to glance in Asuka's direction. Currently, the object of their conversation was chatting idly with the class representative, Hikari Horaki, as well as a few other girls from their class. Most of the students had just finished their lunch, and taking advantage of the few extra minutes to socialize with their friends before returning to their afternoon session. To Shinji, though, she didn't seem much different from this morning. Though at second glance, she did seem a little bit livelier. However, that probably had to do with the soda she usually had with her lunch. Caffeine always did wonders to improve Asuka's personality, Shinji knew.

"I'm not really sure what you guys are talking about," Shinji finally said as he returned his gaze back to his friends. "She woke up kind of late this morning and was cranky as usual all the way to school. I have no clue why she would find anything interesting in me this morning."

"So nothing happened this weekend? Nothing…unusual?" Kensuke put in, with what Shinji felt like was a slightly disappointed look on his face.

The young man could only shake his head. "No, we just had to go to Nerv and do some tests after school Saturday. Though for some reason Dr. Akagi wanted to put us in each other's Evas this time." Shinji closed his eyes and tried once more to remember the dream that he had last night. He had some vague idea that it had something to do with Unit Two, but why, he couldn't imagine. After only a few moments though, no images were forthcoming, and he opened his eyes once again. "That wasn't very fun. I don't feel very comfortable in Asuka's unit."

"Of course you wouldn't, not after what you came out wearing the last time you were in that big red pile of scrap," Touji said while nodding his head sagely.

Shinji blushed at the memory of Asuka's plug suit. It was decidedly too loose in the chest region for his comfort and way too tight in another area to be decent.

Predictably, Shinji's reaction got a few chuckles from his friends at the young pilot's expense. "Hey, man, no worries. We didn't get good profits from that video so we stopped selling it long ago. I guess not too many girls were interested in seeing you in red."

"Touji!" Shinji's blush magnified a thousand times as his face turned a shade of red normally reserved for flowers rather than faces.

Touji and Kensuke broke up laughing just then, pointing at Shinji's red tinged face. "Aww, man you should see your face just now!" The jock managed to get out, before succumbing to laughter once again.

Shinji just mumbled under his breath and waited impatiently for his friends to finish having their fun. People were beginning to stare at the three stooges curiously, which made Shinji turn an even brighter red, a fact that certainly didn't help the situation between the pilot and his friends.

"Well, I certainly hope you're having fun." A voice came from behind Shinji and he turned quickly to see who it was. Thankfully, the laughter died on his friend's lips as the realization came that a very angry class rep was staring the two stooges down. 'In case you hadn't noticed, the bell rung so we're going to back to class. Now."

Few could resist Hikari in her authoritative mode. Touji Suzahara and Kensuke Aida were no different from the others in their class in that respect.

"Yes ma'am!" The two stooges were off in an instant, with Shinji following at a slower pace behind them.

"Thanks," he whispered to Hikari just before the two entered the classroom, and gave the girl a grateful smile to accompany his heartfelt gratitude.

Hikari gave Shinji a cute, mischievous smile before flashing him a hidden victory sign. "Anytime." Then the girl disappeared into the classroom, with Shinji shortly behind her. When everything was settled and the afternoon impact lecture began (the instructor always began every session with one of his innumerous stories) Shinji once again settled deep within his chair. This time, however, his eyes didn't close in sleep. Instead, the young man mulled over the startling piece of conversation he had with his friends.

__

Asuka was staring at me? He thought idly, willing his eyes to go to their furthest reaches to try and catch a glimpse of the red head, who always sat just behind him, in the next row to his right. Sadly, his peripheral vision wasn't good enough, and the actions of his co-worker, whatever she was currently doing, went un-seen. _Why would she be doing something like that?_ The thought echoed, over and over, in his head.

In his opinion, Shinji did not feel he was very worthy of anything but a cursory glance from anyone, let alone Asuka. To receive anything more, especially from the German, meant to him that he was doing something wrong – a prospect that always tended to make the young man nervous. With the knowledge that Asuka may have been watching him during the morning session, Shinji's mind soon became a collage of different things he had done recently that would attract a second glance from his roommate. Perhaps he was too quiet? Not quiet enough? Maybe dinner was bad last night, should he think of making something more to Asuka's standards tonight? He paused suddenly as the last thought occurred to him. What were Asuka's standards anyway? Sure, she was always complaining that all the Japanese ever ate were noodles and rice, but she wasn't exactly forthcoming with any suggestions herself.

Just then, Shinji was interrupted from his frantic fretting when a message indicator appeared on his desk console. Curiously, he shifted his eyes back and forth to see if anyone within visual range was sending the short message. After a few moments, nobody became immediately apparent so with some trepidation, Shinji opened the message and for the third time that day was caught short with confusion.

'Hey, idiot! Noticed you were staring off into space instead of snoozing this time. What gives?'

Shinji stared long and hard at the simple sentence, as if it was some foreign tongue that he couldn't quite grasp the meaning off. It was from Asuka, that much was obvious - no one else ever called him an idiot, at least to his face. But why would she be sending him a message? Obviously she was looking at him again. Damn it, **now** what was he doing?

Before the young man could reply another message came in and he opened this one with a little more speed than the last one. Unfortunately, it wasn't much better than the first.

'Well, are you going to answer me or sit there and stare at the screen and hope that by some freak accident you have telekinesis?'

Shinji put his thoughts on hold for a second and carefully typed out an answer. In his estimation, it was always good to be truthful, and in reality he wasn't thinking of anything bad. Not to mention Shinji was at least a little bit curious as to what Asuka would think of his current dilemma.

'I was thinking about how you always complain about dinner being noodles and rice but never suggest anything yourself. Care to enlighten me as to what you would like to eat tonight?'

A moment's consideration and a brief second later the message was sent. Shinji's ears caught the sound of high speed typing coming from behind him and in mere moments a reply arrived.

'Figures. The poor man-wife of the household worrying over dinner plans. Geeze, idiot, I swear you are the most boring male alive.'

Shinji sighed. He should have expected an answer like that. Still, she hadn't answered his question. Feeling slightly brave in his absolute boredom, Shinji repeated his exact thoughts in his next message.

'You still haven't answered my question. What would you like for dinner tonight?'

After he pressed enter, Shinji heard a muffled snort from behind him and rolled his eyes. He got his reply, once again, very shortly.

'Tell you what, idiot, why don't I go to the grocery store with you tonight and we'll see what your poor excuses for gourmets stock in their stores. Better be more stuff than that convenience store near us had.'

Shinji smiled a bit at her reference to that one time when he found her at the corner convenience store after running out of their training session. Truthfully, he liked Asuka when she was talkative instead of insulting. Although to a stranger, there was no difference between her conversation and insults, after living with the young pilot for a while, Shinji knew better.

'It's a deal; though try not to go too wild. Misato doesn't like looking at her card statements as it is.'

The reply was quick, once again. Though the teacher was beginning to wrap up his opening lecture and actually get to some real educational items. 

'I make no promises, Third.'

Shinji had no more time to compose a reply as the teacher wrapped up his opening lecture and began to go into the afternoon's lesson. This, unfortunately, was once again basic physics primer. _I swear the only thing I'll ever understand from this stuff is thermal expansion,_ he thought. Shinji blushed as the reason **why** he could never forget that particular lesson floated through his mind.

"My God, could that man get any more boring?" Shinji was interrupted from his thoughts by the person sitting next to him. Asuka had agreed to come shopping with him this evening instead of going home as she usually did, and he was beginning to wonder if it had been a mistake on his part to ask her what she felt like for dinner.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean it," Shinji assured the red-head, referring to their teacher who seemed to only have one tone of voice. A tone of voice that just also happened to be the exact frequency required to put all living things to sleep.

"Hmmph, if only we could get that man to come around with a megaphone during the next angel attack. I swear the thing would probably fall asleep before it could run away." Asuka put in, folding her arms behind her head and resting them against the glass window of the train the pair was currently riding. "I can just imagine the little lights that would go off in Dr. Akagi's head during the study of such a creature."

Shinji chuckled at the image of Dr. Akagi's eyes becoming two points of light instead of the light green they usually were. Though the merriment was short lived as once again the feeling of general nervousness overtook him. He really wasn't used to company coming along when he went shopping. Of course, Asuka seemed to be in one of her friendlier moods, which at the very least made this trip a little bit more pleasant than it could have been.

"We have to go back in each other's units tomorrow." Shinji said into the silence that followed both the pilots' chuckling. He knew it was probably a bad topic switch, but the mention of Dr. Akagi brought that to the forefront of his brain once again. They had also gotten calls from their guardian just after school that notified the two pilots of tomorrow's schedule. Though Shinji wasn't exactly sure he wanted to do it.

Asuka was silent for a while, before she answered with a sigh. "Don't remind me," the girl said simply, then leaned forward to mimic Shinji's pose and regarded the lake that the train was currently passing. Silence reigned between the pair for some time, with the occasional feminine rail voice announcing a stop and disturbing the absolute silence on the empty train car as Asuka appeared to internally debate something in her mind. Finally, Asuka turned to Shinji with an uncharacteristic hesitant expression on her face. "Shinji, can I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?" Shinji turned to his roommate and regarded her for a moment. "What is it?"

Asuka opened her mouth to say something, and then rapidly shut it again, her facial features going from slightly concerned back to her usual unreadable expression in a matter of moments. "It was nothing, idiot. Just wondering where the heck this store is that you're taking me to?"

"Oh, sorry." Shinji looked back towards the window. "It's the next stop, then a short walk. We should be there soon."

"Good."

No more was said between the two until they arrived at the store.

"I'm home, is dinner ready?" 

"It will be in just a few minutes," Shinji replied to the sing song voice of Misato from his position in the kitchen.

Asuka looked up from the television program she was watching and gave her guardian a dubious glare. "About time you got home. I was afraid Shinji would have to make me wait to eat until you got home, you know how polite our little housewife is."

"Now, now Asuka, be nice." Misato smiled and waved sweetly at the girl from her position in the hallway. "I told you two I'd be a little late today when I called earlier about your tests for tomorrow. We should be grateful that we have a housewife, after all. They don't come cheap these days."

While Asuka chuckled and agreed with her guardian, while Shinji muttered ungrateful thanks for defending him from the kitchen. Fortunately, the objects that were frying in the pan he held sizzled with readiness and he removed them quickly.

"Well, I hope you're surprised tonight, Misato. **I **picked out dinner this time. The dork and I went shopping together, because I felt we needed a little variety in this dump." Asuka smiled knowingly, as the two women snagged some drinks from the fridge, and Misato piled a few plates from the dishwasher before sitting at the table and allowing Shinji to carefully serve what he had been cooking.

"Really?" Misato asked, as she stared at the small round patty of beef on her plate. "Burgers? Hmmm, been a while since I've had these, I suppose." A look of alarm spread across Misato's features as she smelled the freshly cooked meat sitting on her plate, begging for a bun or two to grace its presence. "I hope you guys didn't spend too much…did you?"

Asuka rolled her eyes and snorted derisively. "As if we would think about breaking your poor little account over one little meal, Misato. Don't worry. We got everything at a pretty good rate."

"Oh, that's good then." With the typical attention span Misato carried, she changed the subject rapidly enough to throw her two charges off. "So… you two went shopping together, did you? How cute! I swear one of these days I'll come home and find you two necking on the couch." She sighed dramatically, as Shinji's face went from ashen to burnt crimson in record time. "Kids grow up so fast."

"As if!" Asuka yelled, ducking her face to take a huge bite of her dinner and not so incidentally to hide the slight pink tone covering her cheeks. "I'll kiss the penguin before I'd kiss that perverted idiot."

When the said penguin picked up his head in response to being referenced, Misato laughed. "That can be arranged, Asuka dear." Misato's facial expression changed to a more serious one as she suddenly remembered her last conversation with Dr. Akagi. "Oh, that reminds me, Ritsuko said that she didn't have much time tomorrow, but she wanted to get the test done a little earlier than I initially told you guys. She wants you both to come in after your morning session instead of after school. I've already cleared it with your principal, so I'll give you two a call during your lunch break, alright?"

"Yes ma'am." Both Shinji and Asuka answered her obediently, before once again returning their primary attentions to dinner.

_Close, too close. _ Asuka thought as she sighed into the waters of her bath, thinking of Misato's teasing words that evening over dinner. Sometimes her guardian could be so immature, and it troubled the young woman greatly when Misato joked about her and Shinji doing things together. Fortunately, the warm water always seemed to soothe her troubles away and relax her mind enough to where she had little trouble going to sleep at night. This time, however, Asuka's thoughts refused to shut off as she replayed the afternoon and early evening in her head. It hadn't really been a conscious thing, or one that she particularly wanted at the time, but she could feel herself enjoying the time with Shinji this afternoon.

It was almost enough to make her want to throw up.

The red head sighed gustily and dunked her head under the pleasantly warm waters. It wasn't that she hated her roommate…that much at least. While he was a wuss, and apologetic, and certainly housebroken and everything else she could find boring in a man… at the same time when he let his guard down and just enjoyed himself, he could be actually fun to talk to. Asuka clearly remembered his quiet chuckle in response to one of her jokes. She forgot what had been funny about it or what had been said, but she could remember his relaxed tone and smiling face. There had always been a certain quality to his voice that relaxed her and it was rather scary to know that he never tried to do that to her, it just happened.

"Ugh, I'm making myself sick," the girl muttered to the water, and stared at her reflection, serenely floating in the tub. "What is it about that wimp that makes him get under my skin so easily? Geeze, I shouldn't be this bothered." Asuka leaned her head back to rest on the little inflatable cushion that Misato had bought recently. Trying to figure Shinji out always gave her massive headaches. The boy was clearly everything and nothing all at once, and it bothered the German pilot greatly.

"And what is it about that damn dream that makes me think of him?" Asuka asked of the ceiling, recalling her dream and the woman that appeared before her in it. Somehow, the young woman knew it had something to do with Unit One and the fact that she was getting cross synch-tested. At least she had managed to convince herself that she was wrong in her earlier surmise, but only after a long time spent thinking about Shinji and how he related to her dream. She really couldn't deny it anymore that Shinji was not as much of a wimp as she had first thought. Still, a phrase, innocently said at the time, bothered Asuka when she was thinking about the Evas. Ironically, it was one of the rare times that she and the boy had been talking civilly and she had asked him what he felt every time he went into the Eva.

_Familiarity. What is familiarity in the Evas? They are just machines, tools for us to use. Aren't they?_ Asuka asked herself, remembering her laughing at Shinji's simple word of description. _How could tools be familiar, or be comfortable? How can war machines that are used to defeat the enemy be associated with emotions?_

The red head tried as hard as she could to find an answer to her questions until the water began to run cold. That was when Asuka decided it was time to get out, finally resigned to the fact that her thoughts led her nowhere, and with no answers in immediate sight. Briefly toweling her wet hair before exiting the small bathroom Asuka sighed and took in the now dark apartment. Everyone was in bed, had she really taken that long in the bath? Answers would have to wait anyways, as the pretty red head yawned and got ready for bed quickly. She really hadn't realized how tiring the day had been, especially with her lack of sleep from the previous night. Sighing softly as her head hit the pillow, Asuka Langley floated off into a restful sleep.

_Why hello again! I knew we would be meeting soon. _Asuka cringed as soon as the melodious voice reached her ears. It looked as if sleep wasn't going to be in her near future.

"You again?" Asuka only barely managed to hide her annoyed tone.

The ghostly figure, now visible, only smiled in response.

"For the last time who are you?"

The smile faded a bit, "I suppose you could say a friend of a friend_._"

"Like that gives me any answers," Asuka snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. She was slightly pleased to know that at least she was clothed this time.

_"_I didn't want you to be embarrassed, after all_,_" her dream companion noted amicably. The soft, amused smile from before making a reappearance on her face.

"WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT!" Asuka finally lost her patience as the woman seemed to glean her thoughts straight from her head yet again. It bothered her, no, it scared her that someone could know her as well as or even more than she could know herself. "Stop reading my mind!"

The woman sighed and all traces of her smile now gone._ "_Such a temper, I think I can see why he likes you. But…sadly, I do not read minds Miss Sohryu, I only read faces. After a while of being in a situation like mine, I've become quite good at it_._"The woman's facial features once again spread in a smile, but this one lacked any of the happiness or mischief that the others carried. "There is a reason, though, that I am here again and I do apologize for using this manner to speak with you, but I really have no choice in the matter_._"

"Well," Asuka huffed, and crossed her arms across her chest defensively. "I'm waiting."

Once again, the woman affected a far away look, and her smile grew softer by the moment. "Miss Sohryu, I want to know what he is to you."

"What who is to me?" Asuka blinked, and then frowned slightly. "Look, I'm starting to get really tired of these dreams; they aren't good for my health. As such, in the interests of making this as short as possible so I can get back to sleep, you're going to have to provide a bit more details here."

"I'm sorry, Miss Sohryu, I would think that you might have figured it out by now. What I meant by him was your roommate and coworker, Shinji Ikari. I'd like to know what he is to you." The woman replied, her eyes glinting suddenly at the mention of the young man's name.

"HIM? Why would you want to know about him? That perverted idiot couldn't pilot straight if they put a joystick in the cockpit and gave him some dummy test angels to fight against. He's a dork, and weak, and I know he's always thinking about all sorts of dirty things, and…and…" Asuka balled her fists when she realized that her companion was smiling brightly with each description she let lose. "And you're not believing a word I'm saying, are you?" One look at the woman standing before her was all that Asuka needed to know the answer to her question.

"Not at all," the woman giggled cutely, hiding a smile behind her hand.

Asuka sighed and closed her eyes. She should have known better with this person, whoever she was. Though it remained to be seen just exactly why she was interested in such a mundane detail as to what she really thought about Shinji. Despite that, though, she tried hard to tell the woman the truth. It probably wouldn't hurt, simply because no one would ever know and she really, **really **wanted to get back to her normal sleep cycle. A feeling, deep inside Asuka's mind told that if she told the truth this once, she would be able to do exactly as she wanted.

"You want the truth then, I suppose." At the woman's nod, Asuka continued, this time hiding her face from the scrutiny of her companion. "The truth is, I don't know. He really is everything I said before, except maybe perverted. He isn't very strong willed, he's always apologetic, even if he doesn't need to apologize. Yet…yet when he wants to be he can be brave, and fight for what he believes is right." Images of the past faded in and out of Asuka's mind, the time she almost died in the volcano, or how he always managed to find the courage to defend Rei when she spoke too harshly towards the first child. Not many instances, really, but just enough to let her know that something was there, hiding bellow the surface of the little wimpy boy she had been living with since she had arrived in Japan.

"It's rather annoying, don't you think, when you catch glimpses of someone that's so much more than what he thinks he is, and yet you can never bring that side out when you want to." Asuka remembered their brief talk on the train, how frighteningly comfortable she was just **talking** to Shinji. He always listened, and never judged what she said or thought. How she always teased him, or ridiculed him to get a reaction, a confirmation that he was paying attention to her. Strangely, everything that she said was dumb about him was something that she alternately craved.

Through it all, the person standing next to her listened and nodded her head occasionally. Slowly, over the course of what Asuka confided, she let her soft smile grow wider and warmer.

"I honestly don't know what he is to me, but it would be nice to have…to have someone to talk to every once in a while, someone who understands what Eva is and why we're here." Asuka let out a gusty sigh, and tried to sink down into the floor or turn herself invisible, anything to let her escape the information she was now freely admitting, even to a ghost. She knew she really shouldn't have been thinking about these things as often as she had been lately, especially considering that she had a great friend in Hikari, the young class representative. It was just that Hikari could never understand what Eva was or why they did it. When she allowed herself those rare times at being nice to her male counterpart, he seemed to be exactly what Hikari couldn't be. 

The red head stopped short, and blinked a few moments, trying to orient her senses. Since when had she begun thinking of Shinji as someone she might want to talk with instead of someone to push away? She had never needed anyone before, why would this manifest itself now of all times? Suddenly her head shot up when she felt a physical sensation on her shoulder, and fell into the gaze of the most intensely dark green eyes she had ever seen.

"Don't think too hard on it, Miss Sohryu, instead just try to relax and go with it. Shinji is a very nice person once you get past everything he presents as a front to the world. In a lot of ways, he and you are very similar and I know that you could help each other out in some of the trying times to come." The woman stepped away and with a sad smile, continued. "I will always be there for him in my own way, but he needs someone outside to help him as well. I think…that you could be exactly what he needs, and the same goes in reverse." The woman looked up briefly, a frown crossing her visibly pretty face. "I must go now, someone is calling to me. We will meet again soon, probably for the last time."

Like a whisper of wind, the woman was gone, leaving only the after image of her eyes in Asuka's vision. This time, however, Asuka did not wake when her companion left, but settled into a deep sleep, a single thought echoing in her subconscious.

_I'll make no promises, but I'll try._

The next day at school, Asuka immediately noticed that during the opening lecture, Shinji once again shrunk in his seat and began dozing off. This marked the second time in as many days invincible Shinji shirked his classroom duties. The German almost thought nothing of it, except maybe a point to bring up anytime the young man got on her nerves about school work, but something bothered her, something involving her dream last night that instead made Asuka bring up her message program and type a quick question.

Shinji blinked, startled from sleep by a small beeping sound coming from his console. He stared confusedly at his screen until he noticed that the small blinking indicator was telling him that a message had arrived. Opening it without giving much thought to who wrote it, Shinji's quiet shock fortunately registered with no one around him as he found it from Asuka. It only took a few moments of deliberation before his curiosity won out and he read the message.

'Never thought I'd see the day when the Invincible Shinji slept through a lecture. What's up, idiot, not enough sleep last night?'

Without thinking much, the young man typed out a reply and sent it away. He was really too tired to figure out any ulterior motives, anyway.

'Yeah, I suppose. I've been having a few strange dreams since they put me in Unit Two. I always spend too much time trying to remember them after I wake up to go back to sleep.'

The reply from Asuka took a little longer, as if she was trying to come up with something to say. Shinji could also swear he heard her shifting uncomfortably for a few moments. Finally, however, a reply did come, and it certainly wasn't what the brown-haired boy expected.

'You too hmmm? Though I don't seem to have any trouble remembering mine. Guess I'm just special like that. Have you made any progress?'

This question grabbed Shinji's full attention as if a rock just slammed down on his hand. Asuka was actually admitting something to him? He sighed gustily and held his head in his hands. He really didn't know what his German roommate was trying to do, but at that particular moment, he was too tired to care. So with a shrug of his shoulders, Shinji ran with the idea and formulated a response.

'I'm not really sure. I keep getting tantalizing details every once in a while, as if what I dreamt was trying to surface again, but it always falls just short of me remembering what was done or said.'

This time, a reply came quicker, as if Asuka had resigned herself to the fate of having a normal conversation with the likes of him.

'Well, if your dreams were anything like mine, I don't think you'd want to remember. I dreamt of this weird woman, and she seemed to always know what I was thinking. I didn't like it that much.'

Shinji thought about the words on his screen and tried to come up with something that wouldn't sound silly or stupid in the red head's estimation. The fastest way to always kill Asuka's good moods was him doing or saying something stupid.

'Do you think they have anything to do with us switching Evas?'

'I don't know, but I think so…I'm not looking much forward to going back in your Unit. I don't feel comfortable there.'

Shinji sighed, and smiled a bit. It appeared that she felt the same way as him.

'I think I understand. I don't exactly feel comfortable in yours either. When exactly did Misato say she would call us to come?'

'I think she said it would be during the lunch break. So I guess we have a little while longer and then we can get this over with.'

'The sooner the better' Shinji put in, just in time for the instructor to finish his lecture. Class officially began shortly thereafter, not allowing Shinji and Asuka to exchange any more messages that morning.

"Asuka, how are you feeling?" The voice of Dr. Akagi, slightly muffled from the LCL she was currently in, woke the red head from her light daze. She had been sitting in Shinji's plug for the last hour waiting for the techs to finish reconnecting the monitoring equipment after the first time failed.

"Like I need a shower," Asuka muttered in response, distastefully inhaling a lungful of the liquid that was a substitute for air inside the Eva entry plugs. "Are we just about done?"

"In just a few moments, yes," Ritsuko answered back politely. Then the blonde doctor turned towards one of the main controllers off the screen for a moment. "Alright, they're finished, so we should be able to get you two connected this time. Standby."

"About damn time," the young woman made sure that everyone within hearing range of the speakers heard her comment. She was rewarded with a slight chuckle coming from Unit Two's feed. "What are you laughing at, idiot?"

Shinji's reply came quickly, and amazingly, was well deadpanned. "Laughing? I'm not laughing."

The only reply the boy got was a roll of the eyes. Finally, the audio feeds cut off as the start up process began. Asuka was glad to note that once she was synched with Unit One, no headache became immediately apparent. _Finally, we can get this test done with, and I'll never have to worry about climbing in this place again _She thought happily, then settled comfortably for what would probably be a several hour long test bank and closed her eyes.

"So we meet once again, for the final time, Miss Sohryu." The voice started Asuka and her eyes shot open to once again meet inky darkness. She knew that voice, the voice she had been hearing in her dreams for the past two days. This time though, a clear image of a young woman, probably in her early thirties appeared before the German. At first glance, the young pilot almost mistook the image for Rei…but she immediately noticed that this woman had a few physical differences. One could hardly miss a mop of brown hair, when one was used to a soft blue. Upon closer inspection though, Asuka also determined that while this woman was pale, she wasn't quite albino - nor did she sport the same crimson eyes that the First Child had as well - though much of her skin was covered in a tight wetsuit-like cloth.

"I know you," Asuka said hesitantly, as the same familiar smile spread across the woman face. "But I know I'm not sleeping, so how can you be here?"

"That is difficult to answer, without revealing too much, my dear. Just suffice it to say that I've been here for quite some time."

"Here…you mean, in this Eva?" Asuka asked, glancing at first down then towards her surroundings, trying to determine if there was anything distinguishing about the setting. Maybe she had fallen asleep... though that would mark the first time she had ever done that during an actual synch test.

"No, Miss Sohryu, you are not sleeping - though you aren't quite awake either. I would probably describe your state of being as… more of a meditative state. But this is the only way I can use to talk to you."

"Does Shinji know you are in here?" That question had been bothering Asuka ever since this woman first appeared before her, especially after she put the connection between this woman and Unit One together. She had wanted to ask the boy himself about it, but could never bring herself to breach the topic. Something in the young woman felt that this stranger knew Shinji from somewhere, and that perhaps Shinji knew her as well.

The woman's expression grew sad. "I think he suspects something or someone is here, but I have not spoken to him as I am speaking to you. His mind is too crowded and confused during these tests or doing your outings to see or hear me." Asuka privately preened at the knowledge that she accessed something in Unit One before Shinji did, though her preening didn't last long.

"We don't have much time; however, I just wanted to let you know something, something that I've gathered from Shinji, though he is not quite aware of it yet." The woman approached Asuka, and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "He cares for you very much, and looks up to you. Please don't hurt him by pushing him away. You are quite correct in your thinking that he can understand many things about you that others simply couldn't or won't grasp. Don't let your fear overcome you."

"But he can't…he just can't understand me. I am an adult, I rely on no one," Asuka stated, looking at the 'ground.' "I've been through too much to let anyone else in."

"I think you'll be surprised." The woman's face once again grew distant. "I've must go now, your tests are completed. Please, Asuka…consider what I've said. If you can't…" suddenly blue eyes met green, "…if you still can't, at least give Shinji, my son, all my love. Tell him we'll see each other soon." Then she was gone, leaving Asuka dumbfounded and staring at the place where the woman had disappeared. Suddenly, her head was filled with images of Shinji, all the stupid, annoying things he done since they met, all the good things he said, and then finally, of the woman who was the heart of Eva Unit One and her relation to the young man and a sad smile appeared across her lips.

_Maybe, _she thought, _just maybe, he might understand after all._

Later on that evening, both Children had been left alone by Misato, who still had some work to get done. Asuka took the small chance that had been presented as a way to test out whether or not Shinji could become what she wanted. It wasn't anything heavy, really, but she wanted to listen to him speak again, wanted to have the feeling that she was being listened to – something she always felt in the boy's presence.

"Man I'm glad to be back in my own unit," Asuka said after plopping herself down on the couch, right next to Shinji, whose only reply was to grunt faintly and continue reading the text he had been engrossed in all day.

"Hey, Shinji…did you ever get that dream of yours settled?" The red head asked, after a few moments of silence between the pair that she used to figure out just what exactly she **could** say. 

"No, not really. Though I stopped having it the day we got our tests done. How about you? Did you ever come to terms with yours?" Shinji replied, finally looking up from his book and giving Asuka his full attention. 

The German merely smiled softly, and looked distantly at the wall in front of her. "Yeah, I think I did, Shinji. I think I got everything settled just fine."

The tone of her voice cause the young man to raise an eye brow in askance. But he was destined to never receive an answer that night.

"Well," Asuka huffed, suddenly bringing herself out of her thoughtful mood with a playful flick on Shinji's nose. "At least they didn't make you wear my plug suit again, ne?"

Shinji blushed crimson as Asuka belted out a peal of laughter. The red head finally comfortable in the knowledge that perhaps something had started, something good. Where it went was anyone's guess, but friendship, in her estimation, was a great start. Slowly, Shinji cracked a smile in response, then chuckled quietly…and then, finally, he began laughing in earnest right along with his roommate until the sound of laughter filled the entire apartment.

****

End

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Author's Endnotes: Well! Finally finished this durn thing. Here's my offering for March reading, and I really hope you enjoy. I guess what I really wanted to show with this fic was just a little push in the right direction that might possibly make things become a little less…strained between Asuka and Shinji. Just exactly what is being started? Well, you'll probably notice the careful exclusion of much that could be termed as romance in this story, and that was deliberate. I felt like maybe that was pushing just a bit much for the time span I was working in. However, I definitely wanted the reader to feel that as of the ending of this story something was starting, that things were progressing between the two from uneasy roommates to friends, true friends. After that…we'll see ;) I can go several directions after this bit, if I feel like it, but I think it also stands well on its own as well. It also happens to be my longest one shot ever, standing in at just under 14,000 words It was started on the 23rd of February and draft two was finished the 6th of March. What a nice trip it's been! As always, comments and criticisms are welcome. You know where and you know how. Until next time!

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Final draft notes: Final draft was completed March 16th, big thanks goes out to Inanis Machina, who graciously provided the grammatical rip up that this story desperately needed and to Avalon for the conceptual pre-read. 


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